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About Us

Where we are right now...

We are on our 2016 Summer TRIP and currently in Gulf Shores, Alabama - We are originally from Pinellas County Florida and have a lot of family there. I hope you'll come by to see what we are up to on our summer adventure. ♥♥♥

Ralph & Donna

Enjoying the good life!

Our third motorhome "Tassie"

to see all about Tassie click on picture

Life is Good!!!

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely with a well preserved body, but skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy sh#&$#@...WHAT A RIDE!!"

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Fort Stockton was going to be a stop off place on our way to Carlsbad, NM. We weren't sure of even staying there because so many of the RV Parks on the RV park reviews were bad. We picked the Fort Stockton RV Park because it seemed like the best one there... We were right!!! It was very nice and the people running it were great. We had 50 Amp, water & sewer plus both At&T & Verizon worked good there. As an added bonus they had a restaurant right on the grounds for people who stayed there... The food was very good (home cooking)! The other RV Parks are pretty dumpy especially Parkview. So if you stop here beware... We had to go into town which was pretty run down BUT we found out they had a Historic District with the FORT so we made a decision to stay another night and take in the area. Glad we did! They are trying very hard to make there town a better place for visitors to come to but they have a long way to go. This is Paisano Pete (Worlds Largest Roadrunner standing 11' tall & 22' long) welcoming you to the city.

The courthouse was built in 1912 and the original jail was in 1883

The Annie Riggs Memorial Museum was originally the Riggs Hotel built in 1899. It is an excellent example of Territorial Architecture built of adobe with Victorian wood trim, and houses exhibits on area history.

The Oldest House is believed to have been the sutler's store at Camp Stockton. As you can see it is in horrible condition and has been vandalized. A shelter was built above it to protect it from the elements... Sadly I don't see how they will restore it.

Grey Mule Saloon built in the early 1890's and St. Joseph Catholic Church first church in Fort Stockton built 1883

Picture on left is the Rollins-Sibley House which was built in 1906 on the foundation of the Old Fort Hospital and the picture on the right is the St. Stephens Episcopal Church built in 1896. It was one of the first Protestant

Churches built west of the Pecos River.

Historic Fort Stockton

Historic Fort Stockton (1867-1886) is the main focus of this tour... On the grounds is the Guard House, parade field, 3 remaining Officers Quarters that are left (homes) and the enlisted men's barracks (which has a museum in it)...

This wagon was used in the movies "The Comancheros" & Undefeated" starring John Wayne... Ralph just had to touch and rub the wagon that The Duke sat upon....

On the left Soldier Barracks and

on the right 2 of the houses that the Officers lived in...

On the left is the Old Fort Cemetery where only a few markers show anyone over the age of 40. A testimony to the hard frontier life. It was used from 1875 - 1912: The picture on the right is of a Montgomery Wards house which we found amazing... we knew about Sears homes but never knew about Montgomery Wards... House was from the late 1920's.

It was a fun day visiting Historic Fort Stockton and that is all there is to do in this town... So if you ever visit Fort Stockton plan on only a 2 night stay and stay at Fort Stockton RV Park... Like I said before there are several other campgrounds BUT trust me you wouldn't want to stay at any other.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

We took a day to travel to Johnson City looking for the Texas White House. It is Lyndon B. Johnson's Ranch which is now a National Park & State Park that not only is his home on, it but also his boyhood home, the school he attended, a family cemetery, his working cattle ranch and a hanger with an airstrip for planes. However the Air force One never landed here because it was too heavy.

The adventure begins at the Visitor Center where you can see exhibits and films depicting the lives of President & Mrs. Johnson. From there is is just a short walk to his boyhood home where he lived from age 5 til his marriage at age 26.

There is a 14 mile drive to get to the Lyndon B.Johnson Ranch District... There you'll go into the Visitor center where you will receive a driving permit, map & CD containing narrative audio for the route. Rightn outside the visitor center is the The Sauer-Beckmann Farm - Rural Life, 1900-1918. The setting for the present-day living history activities is an authentic Hill Country farm. Johann and Christine Sauer, along with their four children, settled this land in 1869. Their family prospered and grew and, by 1885, several stone buildings were built near the original rock and log cabins. Eventually, the Sauers had 10 children. One of those, Augusta Sauer Lindig, served as midwife at the birth of President Johnson. Life on the farmstead is presented as it was in 1918. Park interpreters wear period clothing, do the farm and household chores as they were done at that time.

The first thing we saw when we pulled out of the visitor center was the old road going into the ranch... LBJ use to get a big kick taking people in & out of the ranch driving trough a road that went right into the river. Looks scary to me!

as we continued we came to the old school house he attended at the young age of 4 and he was the youngest student to attend the school. Since he could already read & write his mother had no problem getting him into the school. LBJ graduated at the age of 15 from school.

Our next stop was the reconstructed house where he was born August 27th, 1908. The house was rebuilt by the President and used as a guest house.

Just past that and across the street is the Johnson Family Cemetery where generations of Johnson's are buried. The President was laid to rest here on January 25th, 1973 and Lady Bird some 30 years later.

Also on the property was the Presidents Grandparents house. They lived here after moving from Johnson City where they lived out their lives.

Now we have arrived at the Ranch House, the focal piece of the LBJ Ranch, the home of President Johnson and a center of political activity for more than 20 years. Leaders from around the world visited the Johnsons here, and during the Johnson Administration the original century old rock farmhouse became known as the Texas White House. President Johnson was the first President to create a functioning White House away from Washington. In 1972 the Johnsons donated the Texas White House to the National Park Service and the American people. Johnson stipulated that the LBJ Ranch remain a working ranch, and not a sterile relic of the past. After the President's death in 1973, Mrs. Johnson continued to live at the Ranch part time until her death in 2007. Mrs. Johnson kept on display many of the gifts the Johnsons received while in public service. The Texas White House is "a house full of gifts that's a gift to our nation

Last was a nice ride towards the Show Barn - Built for the care and training of cattle. It continues to serve as the center for present day ranching operations.

And here is my first live & close up LONG HORN!

Did You Know?Lyndon Johnson's first career was as a teacher and principal of a Mexican-American school in Cotulla, Texas. He later taught debate in Houston.Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Can you believe that the day we are to leave it started out rain, then a few hours later sleet and for the first time in 20 years SNOW!!! What is up with that? Well finally we are leaving and we will miss our little deer that visit everyday!

I wanted to show you some of the pictures from our visit into the city of San Antonio... We had such a great time here in this historic city and enjoyed everything about it. From the new city to the old historic areas... and the FOOD! YUMMO!!! We are heading west on Interstate 10 toward Fort Stockton, Texas and then into New Mexico towards Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell and White Sands ...

We found a little jewel down the end of the road from our Medina Lake RV park. It was a Little Mexican restaurant called Aranda's Jalico... Now I really love Mexican food (one of my favorites) and when we saw this little place we were a little hesitant... Just what we would call a hole in the wall and not much to look at... BUT I am telling you it was some good Mexican food and I was so happy.

Our 2011 Adventure

View 2011 Adventure in a larger map~~~This is a "live" map~~~
RV is where we are.
BLUE where we're going.
GREEN where we've been.
Clicking on the map balloons will show the information about each place.